Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons...

Lorrie Goldstein, Toronto Sun
Mar 25, 2017
, Last Updated: 7:38 PM ET

Given that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once said budgets balance themselves, it’s perhaps not surprising his major broken election promises to date are in the areas of tax cuts and government spending.

Indeed, after 16 months in office, Canadians have cause to be concerned about where his government is headed, financially.

To be sure, it’s not as if Trudeau has broken all his promises and by some counts (see http://trudeaumetre.polimeter.org), he’s kept more than he’s broken, although these tend to involve spending money or symbolic gestures like having gender-equality in cabinet.

However, when it comes to people’s pocketbooks, there’s cause for concern.

Trudeau said his middle class tax cut would pay for itself. It hasn’t. The tax cut is costing all Canadians $1.2 billion annually from the federal treasury, a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

2: Small business tax cut

Trudeau promised to lower the rate from 11% to 9%. He hasn’t.

3: Modest deficits

Trudeau said annual deficits over his first term in office would total $24.1 billion. Last week’s federal budget pegs them at $93.3 billion, an immodest increase of 287%.

4: Balanced budget

Trudeau said the budget would be balanced, with a $1 billion surplus, in 2019-20. Last week’s budget predicts the deficit in 2019-20 will be $20.4 billion, $18.7 billion deficit in 2020-21 and $15.8 billion in 2021-22. It gives no indication of when the budget will be balanced, if ever.

5: Reduce debt-to-GDP ratio

Trudeau promised this ratio, a key indicator of the government’s economic health, would be reduced from 30% to 27% by the end of his first term in office. Last week’s budget replaces this with a vague statement the ratio will be lower in 2020-21 than 2016-17, without specifics.

6: Revenue neutral carbon pricing

Trudeau said his carbon pricing plan would be revenue neutral for the federal government. This was misleading because his government is not lowering other federal taxes to offset new federal revenues gained from carbon pricing, which is the definition of revenue neutrality. Instead, Trudeau has set a mandatory national carbon price for provincial governments to implement, with no requirement that their carbon pricing schemes must be revenue neutral for them.

7: Reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions

Before the 2015 election, Trudeau and the Liberals said then prime minister Stephen Harper’s proposed emission cuts were inadequate. Post-election, Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said they were the “floor” on which the Liberals would build. Today, Harper’s floor is Trudeau’s ceiling since he hasn’t changed Harper’s targets.

8: Electoral reform

Trudeau said the 2015 election would be the last using “first past the post” balloting and would be replaced with some form of proportional representation. He has abandoned this promise.

9: Open and transparent government

The opposition parties complain Trudeau is proposing to reduce weekly parliamentary sittings from five days to four (eliminating Fridays), appear only one day a week to answer their questions, limit their power to delay legislation and give the government more time to answer their written inquiries.

10: Restore home mail delivery

Trudeau’s government is studying the issue, but his promise appears to have been downsized to not cutting home mail delivery any further, rather than restoring previous cuts.

This is how McGuinty beat Eves in Ontario with the aid of Gerald Butts, of course, of course.

McGuinty made so many promises that people lost count. He didn't seem to care. At one point in the campaign, an exasperated Eves rolled his eyes when he heard of the latest prommise. A reporter asked him what he thought about it, and he replied: “Mr. McGuinty just says whatever pops into his little, sharp, pointy head because he thinks that's what you want to hear.” And he was right!

They figure that if they make enough promises, some of them will come true, and people will forget about the rest of them.

This is how McGuinty beat Eves in Ontario with the aid of Gerald Butts, of course, of course.

McGuinty made so many promises that people lost count. He didn't seem to care. At one point in the campaign, an exasperated Eves rolled his eyes when he heard of the latest prommise. A reporter asked him what he thought about it, and he replied: “Mr. McGuinty just says whatever pops into his little, sharp, pointy head because he thinks that's what you want to hear.” And he was right!

They figure that if they make enough promises, some of them will come true, and people will forget about the rest of them.

I definitely see similarities between Mcguinty in 2003 and Trudeau in 2015 . what we often see is after the liberals lose a couple elections they reach a point where there fed up with losing . and simply decide to promise voters whatever they want to hear just so they win and remove the conservatives from power .

there primary goal is to obtain power and the high paying government jobs, and once that is obtained . the promises they made during the election and quickly forgotten and broken altogether . and then to maintain there hold on power as there now faced with an annoyed and less motivated base of supporters , they seek out some way to demonise the opposition or to attack an unpopular piece of policy ( such as tory's plan to fund faith based schools or hudaks cut to public service )

I bet it be hilarious to go thru the 2003 liberal policy book mcguinty ran on and to read how many promises were simply hot air and broken by now .

( this 2008 article also clearly links Mcguinty and Trudeau thru Gerard Butts , its mentioned he designed the platforms which helped mcguinty win in 2003 and 2007 . but since that time he moved on to federal politics and now with federal liberals in PMO office )

Architect of McGuinty platforms leaving

The man they call the brains of the operation is leaving Queen's Park.

By Robert BenzieQueen's Park Bureau Chief

Thu., June 5, 2008

The man they call "the brains of the operation" is leaving Queen's Park.

Gerald Butts, principal secretary to Premier Dalton McGuinty and policy architect of the Liberal government since 2003, is calling it quits.

Butts, 36, designed the platforms that helped McGuinty become the first Liberal to win back-to-back majorities in Ontario since Mitch Hepburn in 1934 and 1937.

The married father of two young children is leaving at the end of the month, McGuinty announced in a lengthy internal email to MPPs and political aides yesterday.

"Gerald often quotes his late Aunt Peggy (Butts) who was, among many wonderful things, a Catholic nun, a Liberal senator, and his devoted mentor," the premier wrote.

"`There are two types of people in politics,' she would tell him, `those who want to be something, and those who want to do something. What matters is doing something.'"

McGuinty hailed Butts' efforts over his nine years in opposition and in government, noting he "has had a hand in every major advance we have achieved on behalf of Ontarians."

One of his greatest policy coups was pushing forward the City of Toronto Act, which has given Mayor David Miller's council greater authority over the municipality's affairs.

While the famously discreet Butts declined comment, friends say he has several job opportunities outside government.

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